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Violent 78 storm causes death and destruction rt Perry, Ont. January 26, 1978 It’s hard to believe it was 30 years ago last week Scugog Township experienced one of the most violent winter storms in memor. Before it was over the vicious winds and driving snow had caused death, injury, massive property damage, power failures and a traffic jam involving more than abandoned vehicles south of Port Perry. The storm struck with little warning on the afternoon of January 26 stranding motorists for hours. One of the worst in- cidents involved an Uxbridge woman who lost her life when she was struck by a truck while standing beside her car in white-out conditions. A major pile-up of vehicles in front of the Oddfellows Hall created a massive traf fic jam on the Oshawa Rd. Motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles and fierce winds and blowing snow reduced visibility to zero. Many motorists waited for hours in their cars before they were rescued by snowmobilers. dozen members of the Port Perry Snowmobile Club braved white-out iti hours to ded mo- torists. They moved through the massive traffic jam checking to see if any cars were still occupied, and rescued about 50 motor- ists, transporting them to the fire hall. One youth, knocked out during a car accident, was taken by snowmobilers to Port Perry Hospital with frostbite after spending more than six hours in the cold. nfused and disoriented by the wind and snow, some motorists banded together and made their way to shelter at the Odd- fellows Hall or the fire hall. The fire hall in Port Perry became one of the numerous places where motorists found shelter and food during the worst of the storm. The Railroadhouse Motel was also booked solid. About 80 people found shel ter at the motel and many spent the night sleeping in the lobby and halls. Many concerned residents of town opened their homes to stranded motorists that had no place to go. On Scugog Island, residents of Gerrow and Portview Beaches were without pow- er for nearly 20 hours as the high winds shorted out power lines. By the next morning the bat- tered township was slowly return- ing to normal and residents were faced with the task of digging out. And while the major roads were slowly opened to traffic there were hundreds of cars still abandoned along the road sides. Small groups of people were seen hiking to their vehicles with brooms and shovels to dig them out. Following the storm and clean- up many old-timers from Scugog were reported to have said the storm was the worst they could re- call in recent memory. Pictures: from top right, 1 and 2, cars stranded along the Oshawa Rd. (Simooe St.) south of th Zh 3. Amotorist stranded for hours looks like he’s in shock after rolling down his car window. 4. Motorists digging snow, packed by the wind, out of their engine. 10 FOCUS - FEBRUARY 2008 focus@observerpub.ca “FOCUS. FEB.2008 ind 10 & 4125108 vxo76am |